The Austrian Competition Authority accepts the merger decision of the cartel court in relation to the merger between two wholesale food businesses (Metro / AGM)

METRO/AGM merger: Approved by Cartel Court with structural remedies* The merger concerns the acquisition of AGM by METRO and was notified to the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“AFCA”) on 2 September 2021. The deadline for completion of the Phase I review and the filing of a request for examination by the Cartel Court was 30 September 2021. During its investigations, the AFCA identified competition concerns, as a result of which the planned merger could not be cleared by the Authority in the notified form. The notifying parties did not offer any remedies to dispel the concerns. The AFCA and the second official party, the Federal Cartel Prosecutor, therefore each submitted a request for examination to the Cartel Court (Phase II, 25 Kt 8/21w - 84 and 25 Kt 9/21t) on 30 September